Office Parties
by RaiLei
Summary: Rufus hated office parties – couldn't they socialize on their own? Why did he have to pay for it?


There were many things Rufus hated.

He hated that he had to act as ShinRa President, the title cutting into his usual activities.

He groaned every time he saw Heideigger enter his office, the round man always boasting about something.

Any mention of the members of AVALANCE always got under his skin – _how_ could they avoid capture so many times?

The Turks weren't much better; they couldn't even capture _one_ of them. He'd have to speak to Tseng, this was getting ridiculous.

He rolled his eyes when he passed by Reeve's office, the man claiming that his robot's – _Cait Sith_ , or whatever he called it – GPS had been destroyed during one of its' falls. What a waste of money that had been, why he _still_ fooled around with that robot he didn't know.

The worst, he always found, was getting cornered by the scientist Hojo and _another_ of his experimental proposals. What a great way to kill quite a few hours, _regularly_ it seemed nowadays _._ All he knew, was that he _never_ wanted to step foot in Hojo's lab.

However, he found himself despising all the office parties more than anything.

Just the idea of having to converse with the employees who weren't of any importance and having to talk about life outside the office was pointless. He hardly cared about the woman from the third floor's baby or the man with the hour long train ride from Sector Two.

He'd forget their words the second he managed to excuse himself.

Upon seeing a majority of the staff gathered in such a cluster, he usually found himself wondering if they were all _actually_ needed. Thinking of all the Gil he could save by getting rid of some salaries – and cutting out these useless expensive parties – he found himself disappearing from the common area, retreating to his office.

Flopping into his elaborate computer chair, Rufus turned to his computer, calling up the name of employees onto the screen. Scrolling down the screen, he sighed, propping his chin in the palm of his hand.

There wasn't a lot of people to cut loose, it seemed.

Apparently, his father had had a similar idea before.

Grumbling to himself, Rufus closed the screen, leaning back in his chair. Closing his eyes, he could hear the mumble of voices and music from the floor below, which only made his shake his head.

Couldn't the staff _socialize_ – if they _had_ to – on their own time? Why did he have to use his company's Gil for it?

" _Kya ha ha ha,"_ a muffled voice sounded.

Rufus paused, narrowing an eye at the closed door. _Another annoyance_ , he found himself thinking idly.

Before Rufus could move, the doorknob turned, the door falling open moments later. His eyes still closed, he took a deep breath before slowly opening them. Just like he figured, standing in the doorway was the blonde haired Weapons' Division specialist.

Her blonde hair was perfectly pulled back into a bun, her long bangs framing her face, her makeup still intact at this late hour. Her usual red dress hung closely to her every curve, the scooped neck of her dress leaving very little to the imagination.

"What is it, Scarlet?" Rufus said, flicking his blonde hair back. "I was sure you had something else to attend to."

Scarlet waved his comment aside, placing her hands on her hips, framing the doorway. "President, you know that you're presence is required downstairs."

Rufus gritted his teeth; he didn't need _her_ telling him what was expected. "I am aware of that, I had something to attend to." he said matter-of-factly, flicking his screen off. "Now, close the door behind you on your way out." He said, turning to glance out the large windows, Midgar below.

Scarlet nodded slightly, her gold earrings glinting in the light behind her. "I had a similar idea." she said eventually, the door clicking shut moments later.

Rufus sighed, closing his eyes. There weren't enough words to explain what he thought of the blonde woman.

"You know, you looked pretty stressed down there, _Rufus_ ," Scarlet's voice sounded, closer now. "I know exactly what you need."

"Scarlet – I told you to leave." He cast her a fleetingly look, the blonde now sitting on his desk, her eyes piercing his.

"I don't listen very well," Scarlet quipped, Rufus's back to her again. "You should know I do things my way."

Scarlet gritted her teeth together; she _never_ had to work this hard before. If she showed just a _fraction_ of an inch, they always fell at her feet. How else did her yearly budget outweigh that of all the other Departments? She knew what buttons to push to get what she needed.

"Come on now," Scarlet said after a pause, slipping off the desk, stepping closer to him, running her hands up his arms. "I'm sure you know what goes on behind the scenes."

Rufus rolled his eyes, Scarlet pressing herself into his back. He'd admit that the blonde woman had an excellent body, but that personality . . . he forced back a shudder.

"I've already told you this before," he snapped, his eyes narrowed, their reflection staring back at them in the glass. "That I'm not like my father or the other spineless fools in this damn company that caves to someone like _you_." He grabbed her wrist as it trailed down his chest, squeezing it tightly for good measure.

He heard Scarlet mutter something incoherently, before he released her wrist, turning on his heel to glare at her in the same moment. "You know what I think about having to repeat myself."

Scarlet glared at him hauntingly, pushing her long bangs back. "Fine then, _President_ ," she said coldly. "They're waiting for you downstairs, but I know they'd just _love_ to see the inside of your office without the pretense of getting fired."

With a similar smug smirk on her features, Scarlet turned, the only sound being her high heels hitting the tiled floor underfoot. She paused momentarily at the door, opening it a fraction as she turned to look back. "I wouldn't keep them waiting too much longer."

The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Rufus in the silent, dark room.

If there was one thing he knew for sure – was that he _hated_ that woman most of all.

# # #

A/N: Wrote this back in 2010 as part of a prompt from my friend to "Write a short story based on the next song that comes on my IPod". The song that came on was "Don't Stand So Close To Me" by the Police, and the first thing that came to mind was Rufus and Scarlet. Found this on my hard drive the other day and decided to upload it after all these years.


End file.
